5 Years for 5 Grams of Grass

Iranian Tourist Facing 5 Years in a Bali Prison for Carrying 5 Grams of Marijuana in his Luggage

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(9/9/2013)

Athony Simonian Koedolia Alexander (30), a tourist hailing from Iran, has heard Bali prosecutors demand a 5 year prison sentence for trying to smuggle 5.44 grams of marijuana through Bali’s International Airport on April 7, 2013.

Alexander, arriving off a flight from Kuala Lumpur, was discovered to have the small bag of cannabis hidden inside his luggage.

At his initial hearing in the Denpasar District Court on Monday, September 2, 2013, prosecutors asked the presiding panel of judges to punish the Iranian with 5 years in prison. The maximum penalty applicable under Indonesian law for Alexander’s crime was 20 years imprisonment.

According to Tempo.co, the Iranian’s Indonesian lawyer objected to the severity of the sentence sought against his clients saying the man was not an importer but a simple user of the narcotic.